China Puts Nipah Virus Under Monitoring as India Reports Outbreak

China has added the Nipah virus to its national disease monitoring system as India has seen an outbreak recently.

No cases have been reported in China so far.

According to China's revised frontier health and quarantine law, which took effect last year, infectious diseases, including COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, Nipah virus, Zika virus and Chikungunya fever, are subject to inspection and surveillance.

According to Xinhua News Agency, a Nipah virus outbreak has recently been reported in India, with infections concentrated in the state of West Bengal. According to the latest reports, five confirmed cases have been identified, with at least one patient in critical condition. Nearly 100 people have been asked to quarantine at home.

The virus was first detected in a nurse at a private hospital near Kolkata, the capital and largest city of West Bengal, and three more healthcare workers were later found to be infected.

Public information shows that Nipah virus is a zoonotic RNA virus mainly carried by fruit bats and pigs. Human infections are often linked to contact with contaminated food or animals.

According to the World Health Organization and other health bodies, the Nipah virus primarily targets the lungs and brain. Symptoms include fever, headache, drowsiness, confusion, and coma, with a mortality rate of around 40 to 75 percent among infected patients. The incubation period usually ranges from four to 14 days. There is currently no specific vaccine or effective treatment.